Lockheed Martin delivers 500th F-35 aircraft.

 Lockheed Martin and the F-35 Joint Program Office delivered the 500^th F-35. In February, the F-35 enterprise surpassed 250,000 flight hours.

F-35 (Picture source: Lockheed Martin)

The 500^th production aircraft is a U.S. Air Force F-35A, to be delivered to the Burlington Air National Guard Base in Vermont. The 500 hundred F-35s include 354 F-35A conventional takeoff and landing (CTOL) variants, 108 F-35B short takeoff/vertical landing (STOVL) variants and 38 F-35C carrier (CV) variants for the U.S. and international customers. The 250,000 flight hours include all F-35s in the fleet comprised of developmental test jets, training, operational, U.S. and international aircraft.

"These milestones are a testament to the talent and dedication of the joint government, military and industry teams," said Greg Ulmer, Lockheed Martin, vice president and general manager of the F-35 program. "The F-35 is delivering an unprecedented 5^th Generation combat capability to the warfighter at the cost of a 4^th Generation legacy aircraft." 

The F-35 operates from 23 bases worldwide. More than 985 pilots and over 8,890 maintainers are trained.  Nine nations use the F-35 from their home soil, eight services have declared Initial Operating Capability and four services have employed F-35s in combat operations.